ND looks within

January 31, 2009|By CURT RALLO Tribune Staff Writer

It's not the team wearing red and black uniforms today that Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw is concerned about when the Cincinnati women's basketball team steps onto the Joyce Center court today. It's the team wearing the home whites, with "Irish" emblazoned on their jerseys. The opponent for the Irish today is within, and character will be revealed as they go eye-to-eye with a slump in which Notre Dame has lost three of its last four games. Notre Dame has dealt with plenty of adversity this season. The Irish, who lost starters Devereaux Peters and Brittany Mallory for the season to knee injuries, battled through adversity to be ranked as high as No. 4 at one point. The Irish were impressive in winning games at Louisiana State, Boston College and Vanderbilt, a game in which the Irish erased an 18-point deficit. But in the Big East buzzsaw, the Irish have struggled, and now they must brace themselves for a six-game stretch in which they play four ranked opponents. "That's my big concern right now, where are we with our confidence, because we've clearly lost our confidence," said McGraw. "That's my biggest concern right now, how do we get back to where we were? We can get there. We're the same team that we were when we beat Vandy, and won all those games up to this point." According to McGraw, it's not time to change the lineup, or put in new sets. "It's not a lot about the Xs and Os, but we've gone back to the fundamentals, not starting over, but just to get back to the basics and if we can play better defense, just do the little things right, then maybe that will take care of some of the other things," McGraw said. "I thought we actually did a better job in transition in that we ran it at Rutgers, as opposed to the Villanova game where we were just so slow. We had three people in double figures (against Rutgers), I'm not sure when the last time that happened. For me, a lot of it's the defense. We can't give up 70 points a game and expect to win." Leaders Ashley Barlow, Lindsay Schrader and Melissa Lechlitner spearhead a perimeter-oriented Irish attack looking to regain its shooting touch and transition game after two sub-par efforts. McGraw is hoping for more production off the blocks from Erica Williamson, Erica Solomon and Becca Bruszewski. Throw in the perimeter shooting of Kellie Watson and the driving ability of Natalie Novosel, and the Irish can create nightmares for opponents. "It's all there," McGraw said of getting back on track. "I just have to find it. I have to get it back. I have to figure out what I can do to just make things easier for them and really, what else can I do to help them. It's frustrating for all of us. We just feel awful for our fans. "We feel like we're letting everybody down because of the way we're playing. The players are really taking it to heart. It's been really hard and frustrating for all of them, and I think we're all searching for answers. We just need to have someone step up and have a big game and get us back, and then I think everybody will relax." What has hampered the Irish in their last two games (losses to Villanova and Rutgers) has been a rough start. In each game, the Irish found themselves in a big hole early. "We talked about that," McGraw said. "I'm not ready to change the lineup. I think we just have to come out a little bit better. How we do that ... can we get some steals early, get we get the press going? Can we work on our shot selection, can we take a little better care of the ball? The turnovers, to me, have been the thing that's really bothering us. We're turning it over, and they're going down and hitting a 3, so we're not even getting shots. I think if we can execute a little better offensively, that will make us feel a little better about what we're doing." In jockeying for position in order to get the byes that are awarded to the top four teams for the Big East Tournament, the Cincinnati games becomes vital. "Every game is critical from this point on," McGraw said. "We've got to get some wins. That's kind of the bottom line. Certainly, we want to get back to playing well, at least feeling good about it after the game. That's probably the first step -- we want to feel good about the way we're playing. Then, hopefully, when we start playing well, we'll also start winning." Staff writer Curt Rallo: crallo@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6152

Talk about Notre Dame basketball

Join other Irish Fans in discussions about the Notre Dame basketball program on the fan forums at www.IrishFanNetwork.com. Fans can also upload game photos and videos or blog about Notre Dame sports. The new Web site is powered by The Tribune and it's free and easy to join.